There has been an increasing tendency towards marriage postponement or non-marriage in both genders in recent years. In 2016, 32.4% of males and 28.0% of females had never been married (figures excluding foreign domestic helpers). The median ages at first marriage for men and women increased from 29.1 and 26.2 in 1991 to 31.4 and 29.4 in 2016 respectively. Moreover, out of the 50 008 registered marriages in Hong Kong in 2016, marriages between Hong Kong residents took up around 54.6%, while Mainland-Hong Kong cross-boundary marriages took up another 34.7%. The latter was significantly higher than that in 1991. On the other hand, the number of divorces increased continuously, with the crude divorce rate at 2.34 per 1 000 population in 2016, more than double that in 1991.

This article provides an overview on the marriage and divorce trends in Hong Kong from 1991 to 2016.